Data Center Transformation
and What MNCs Need to Know

The economics of data centers are completely out of sync for many enterprises. This is caused by a range of interconnected variables such as soaring energy costs, which have increased by a factor of four over the past decade; insufficient power supplies to support high-density computing such as blade servers; unplanned outages and associated risks related to application availability, business continuity / disaster recovery as well as governance risk management and compliance (GRC). There are also environmental issues and desire to one day become ‘green’ to project corporate social responsibility (CSR) and this requirement is appearing in more RFPs.

Customers can no longer build new facilities as they tend to require a 20 year CapEx commitment where operating costs could be four to five times more expensive to run. This in turn is fuelling the demand for modular data centers and utility pricing. Above all, there is also a disconnect between IT (which is often seen as a cost center) and business requirements. Corporate governance in most enterprises is generally weak. Therefore, data center transformation (DCT) is no longer just an IT issue, but rather requires a holistic approach to succeed. This advisory considers the different components behind a successful transformation and critical success factors.